European Oil and Gas Issue 104 Early Edition

European Oil and Gas Issue 104 Early Edition

The latest edition of European Oil and Gas

PROFILE
Score (Europe)
budgets and activities and to verify valve and operators’ performance, whilst also improving process efficiency for its customers. This focus on technology has accelerated significantly over the last few years, with the dynamic firm investing several million pounds in designing, developing and manufacturing its own range of condition monitoring equipment and services. This has resulted in the delivery to market of products perfectly suited for compliance with performance criteria on for example safety critical ESDVs. Score’s ultra-portable MIDAS Meter® is designed to monitor valves’ in-service performance at normally manned plants, using Acoustic Emissions (AE) technology to find leaking valves and then quantify their leak rate. The equipment helps owners to make the exact maintenance intervention required, at the optimum moment, to maximise in-service reliability, reduce exposure to risk and enhance process efficiency. Its MIDAS® Sensor is designed for more critical valves, where there is a need for continuous monitoring of valve performance in service. The permanently installed sensor does the same thing as the MIDAS Meter®, but without the requirement for manual data collection. A 4-20mA electrical output signal is sent back to the control room, where the signal is processed such that a graphic interface then displays the performance of the valve it is attached to. The user interface is designed to give a quick and easy to understand visual indication of valves that are not performing to the required standards. The most complex and advanced valve monitoring system on the market, Score’s V-MAP® system, uses additional sensors which allow customers to monitor their most critical valves - such as Emergency Shutdown Valves (ESDV’s), Pressure Safety Valves (PSV’s) and Blowdown Valves (BDV’s) - for any/all signs of developing failure modes. Score’s innovative new products and services have put the forward-thinking firm ahead of the curve when it comes to upcoming compliance requirements. By no coincidence, these innovative new products and services exactly satisfy the HSE’s recommendations for valve lifecycle management, following their “KP4” audits of ageing assets, both onshore and offshore. The “KP4” audits found that platforms built 40 years ago, with a life cycle of 25 years, are still operating with in some cases unknown valve populations; i.e there was no up-to-date database of what valves had been installed (or
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when) and furthermore their owners could not provide evidence of what condition the installed valves were in. Looking at this issue on a wider international basis, the ISO 55,000 series of standards for asset integrity management are due to come into effect in 2014, which will recommend that all owners of high risk operating processes with mechanical equipment will have to manage their installed assets in line with best practice, which is to document the installed equipment and then monitor its condition over time. Score has invested heavily over the last four years and is continuing to invest to make the required valve condition monitoring products available. It is consequently now in the best possible position to support its customers in these activities. With the Score team’s enthusiasm and passion for continuous improvement, investment and innovation, it is sure to continue to deliver benefits to its customers, creating opportunities and delivering success to all stakeholders in its chosen markets along the way.